Oviposition response of the mosquito, Culex quinquefasciatus to the secondary metabolite(s) of the fungus, Trichoderma viride

• Main Authors: I Geetha, KP Paily, V Padmanaban, K Balaraman
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Ministério da Saúde 2003-03-01
• Series: Memórias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz.
• Subjects: Trichoderma viride; secondary metabolites; mosquito oviposition attractancy; Culex quinquefasciatus
• Online Access: http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0074-02762003000200010

Secondary metabolites produced by Trichoderma viride, a deuteromycetes fungus, under submerged culture condition were formulated and evaluated for oviposition attractancy against gravid females of Culex quinquefasciatus mosquito. At a concentration of 10 µg ml-1 the formulation showed remarkable attractancy with an oviposition active index (OAI) of +0.52. When the oviposition attractancy of the formulation was compared with a known oviposition attractant, p-cresol, both at 10 µg ml-1, the former was found to be more attractive to result in 70% egg laying than the later with 30% egg laying. Thin layer chromatography fractions of the secondary metabolites showed that a fraction with Rf value of 0.88 was highly active as oviposition attractant with an OAI of +0.65. Further work on identification of the active principle(s) of the microbial formulation might lead to an oviposition attractant useful in mosquito vector management.